


The Rose Garden

by aphchina



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-19
Updated: 2015-06-19
Packaged: 2018-04-05 02:15:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4161816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aphchina/pseuds/aphchina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I miss him. It hurts." He speaks again, but the roses don't reply. They never do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Rose Garden

Ever since Shuu became depressed, Kanae spends most of his time tending to the garden. He stays there for hours, staring at the flowers. Pulling weeds. Watering.  
  
Mostly, he loves the roses, red and full of thorns. The thorns can't cut his skin, but he handles them carefully anyways.  
  
Sometimes, Matsumae watches from the back door. She never comes to help; Kanae needs to be alone, and she isn't too fond of dirt and insects anyways.  
  
After a month, when there is nothing left for Kanae to do, he simply sits by the pond and feeds the koi.  
  
Once he finally comes inside, Matsumae hands him a cup of coffee.  
  
"It's never looked better." She says, and he knows she's right. It's impeccable, but he doesn't feel a sense of accomplishment. He feels nothing.

  
-

  
On two year anniversary of Shuu's decline, Kanae finds himself in the rose garden again.  
  
His heart is aching.  
  
Once the sorrow fades, he's left with anger. Anger at Kaneki Ken. Anger at himself.  But he can't bring himself to be angry at Shuu.  
  
He walks to the koi pond and sits, twirling a rose in his fingers, but stops when he notices something by the stone path. It's a bit dark now, but he can make out feathers.  
  
A dead bird.  
  
It sits between the path and the pond, eyes closed. It seems as if it could be asleep.  
  
Kanae sighs. "This house," He says, speaking to the rose as he tucks it into his pocket, "is where things go to die."  
  
-  
  
It didn't work. Kaneki's- Sasaki's scent didn't work. He shouldn't have expected him to recover in the first place, but he hadn't expected no reaction at all.  
  
What's the point of hoping?  
  
Kanae grabs a trowel, a bag of fertilizer, and rolls up his sleeves.  
  
_No, there is still food. Gourmet flesh always made Shuu happy._  
  
He digs into the ground. Loosens the earth up. Worms squirm under the dirt, trying to escape the metal blade.  
  
_He's trying so hard. He's bringing the best food he can find. What else is there?_  
  
The fertilizer pours onto the ground, and he mixes it with the old dirt before he packs it around the base of the plants.  
  
_Maybe something like Master Shuu's ghoul restaurant. An auction._  
  
Raindrops begin to fall. Slowly at first, then all at once, drenching him. Kanae sits in the dirt. His job is done, but he can't seem to move.  
  
_He'll go to the next auction. But- will that really save his master?_  
  
Rain drips down his face. At least, he thinks it's rain. Is he crying?  
  
_Can anything save Shuu? His love, his devotion, is it a waste? His care, his faithfulness- none of that is enough to bring him back. He's not as good as Kaneki Ken._  
  
His legs finally begin to work again, and he rises from the muddy earth.  
  
The auction it is.  
  
-  
  
When he comes home from the auction, he goes straight to the garden. He clips the vines on the gazebo, feeds the koi, trims the plants on the sides of the stone path.  
  
The garden has become an happy place for him, a place where he can work. Matsumae is worried, he knows, but this isn't an obsession as much as it is an escape.  
  
_"This is the rose garden of the Tsukiyama family," the man, Tsukiyama Shuu, says, "Behold!"_  
  
_Kanae's eyes are dry now, and wide with awe._  
  
His feet bring him to the roses. They always do. He never comes to the garden without visiting the roses.  
  
"Help me," He tells them, "Tell me what to do."  
  
_"Kanae. My distant younger brother separated by blood..."_  
  
His knees go weak, so he sits on the ground with them drawn to his chest.  
  
"I miss him. It hurts." He speaks again, but the roses don't reply. They never do. His eyes water, and he buries his head between his knees.  
  
_"Please stop crying alone."_  
  
The voice is so clear, it could be real. Kanae lifts his head again, and repeats to himself the words he will never forget: "Live beautifully with your head up high, just like that rose on your chest."


End file.
